error opening a pdf document

[sam-e]

hi,

this only happens to some documents, not sure why

other documents open ok

but when i click to open certain files, it says "there was an error while opening this document, the path does not exist"

but if i log in to a browser and download that file from dropbox online, or view it through dropbox online, the document is ok

can you help pls

[Hannah]

Hey @sam-e, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

So, does this happen only when you try to open the files locally in the Dropbox folder on your computer?

What is your computer's OS version and what's the version and status of the Dropbox app?

You can see the latter, by hovering over your Dropbox icon.

Let me know and we'll go from there!

[sam-e]

hi

yes it only happens on my PC

OS Windows 11 Pro

Dropbox versin 177.4.5399

[Megan]

Hi @sam-e, if you quit the Dropbox app momentarily, and then try to open the file, do you notice different results, or do you get the same error then? 

[sam-e]

hi

still the same thing

closed dropbox, restarted. same thing

closed dropbox, restarted computer, tried again, same thing

same error

[Walter]

Hey @sam-e, sorry to jump in and thanks for the screenshot. 

Could you send us a screenshot of how the files that give this error look on your end so that we can check their syncing icons?

You could also take a look at this Help Center article in the meantime.

[sam-e]

is this what you mean?

[Megan]

Hey @sam-e, yes this is what Walter meant, and thanks for the screenshot!

It seems the files are available offline. One more thing I'd like for you to try, is to temporarily move an example file out of your Dropbox folder, onto a different path outside of Dropbox, and check if you get the same error then. 

[sam-e]

hi

i copied and paste onto desktop and it worked

i clicked on it in dropbox folder and gave me the same error

thats weird

[Walter]

Thanks for the clarification @sam-e - much appreciated.

It sounds like the file path of this file might be too long for Adobe to handle - could you check the complete file path and let us know approximately how many characters it counts? 

Another thing you could try is making another copy of the file in your Dropbox root folder as the file path would be significantly shorter. 

In any case, please keep us posted.